Octa­substituted biphenyl­enes: is there a favoured conformation?

Octa­kis(pyrazol-1-ylmeth­yl)­biphenyl­ene ethanol solvate, C₄₄H₄₀N₁₆·C₂H₆O, has two independent centrosymmetric mol­ecules, one of which is hydrogen bonded to the solvent mol­ecule. One molecule adopts an arrangement with three arms up and one down in each benzene ring, whilst the other molecule has a conformation with two adjacent arms on the same side of the ring. In neither case is the expected fully alternating form observed.